Plastic horseshoe



p 0, 1969 w. M. BECKER 3,469,631

PLASTIC HORSESHOE Filed Feb. 2. 1968 l/vva/v 701?. WHYNL' M. 85005;?

Y 5v HIS arrow/vans. Hap/21s, Mac/4, fiusseLL & KER/v United StatesPatent 3,469,631 PLASTIC HORSESHOE Wayne M. Becker, 11314 Canton Drive,Studio City, Calif. 91604 Filed Feb. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 702,718 Int. Cl.A01l /00 US. Cl. 168-4 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE As an articleof manufacture, a horseshoe of plastic material having a transverse heelwhich includes an inwardly concave central portion.

DISCLOSURE This invention is a horseshoe formed of a generally resilientmaterial, which can be readily applied and fitted to the hoof of ahorse, or other animal.

In the drawing and the following specification, which are for thepurpose of illustration only:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the horseshoe;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section on the line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of an alternative embodiment.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a horseshoe having a generally oval-shapedbody formed of a continuous strap 11 of a slightly resilient plasticmaterial, such as a polyurethane, for example, the body having an innersurface 12 and an outer surface 13, and providing a generallyoval-shaped central opening 14, with a Web 1411 closing one end of theopening, the opening being provided with a radius 141) therearound toreduce mud packing therein, which is a feature. The outer surface 13 isprovided with slightly protruding buttons, calks or lugs 14c, to improvethe traction of the shoe, but may be omitted if desired. The body 10 hasa major axis 15 and a minor axis 16, and the opening 14 has a major axis17 and a minor axis 18. For general application to most horse hoofs, Iprefer to make the major axis 15 of the body about 5 inches in lengthand its minor axis 16 about 5% inches in length, the major axis 17 ofthe opening 14 about 3% inches in length and its minor axis 18 about 2%inches in length. These dimensions may be changed, but I prefer tomaintain about the same ratios between them for larger or smaller shoes.The body 10 has a toe portion 19 and a heel portion 20. At the heelportion 20, the strap 11 is truncated between its sides to provide aconcave end surface 21. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the heel portion 20is inwardly concave at 22 to provide an area at the heel portion whichis of less thickness than the remainder of the body, which is animportant feature of the invention, and the concave end surface 21 alsocontributes to this. This construction of the heel portion 20 permits itto expand or contract with variations in weight put upon the shoe by thehorse, and it helps prevent the formation of corns on the hoof. As willbe noted, the inner surface 12 and the web 14a are coplanar and theouter surface 13 is also coplanar and parallel to the inner surface,except in the area of the heel portion 20.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, in whichsimilar numerals are used to designate similar parts, and shows ahorseshoe identical with that of the preceding views except that theheel portion 20 is slightly thicker than the toe portion 19 with theouter surface 13 coplanar as illustrated, to build up the heel, which isdesirable in some applications.

The body 10 is readily penetrated by conventional horseshoe nails andthus may be nailed to the hoof of a horse, or other animal, with theinner surface 12 against the hoof and the outer surface 13 away from thehoof. The external edge of the body 10 may be trimmed readily with aknife, or other tool, to conform to the shape of the hoof of the animal.The web 14a normally protects the animals hoof against stones andpebbles, and is an important feature of the invention, but may beremoved readily with a knife, if so desired, which is also a feature ofthe invention. Also, it may be omitted entirely if so desired. I havefound that the horseshoe of my invention is easier to apply to a horseshoof, and is more comfortable to the animal, and affords betterprotection to the hoof, than conventional steel horseshoes. It tends toreduce cross-firing, knee-knocking, and cow-like action of the horsesleg.

I desire to be afforded the full scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a horseshoe formed of a resilientplastic material, such as a polyurethane, having a generally oval-shapedbody formed by a continuous strap to provide a generally oval-shapedopening in the center, the strap having inner and outer surfaces, thebody having a toe portion at one end of the body and a transverse heelportion at the other end of the body, the heel portion being truncatedto form an outer concave surface extending between the outer sides ofthe body, the inner surface of the body being coplanar and the outersurface of the body at said heel portion being inwardly and upwardlyconcave to provide a central area at the heel which is more readilybendable than the remainder of the body.

2. A horseshoe as defined in claim 1 in which there is a thin, readilyremovable membrane coplanar with the inner surface and covering the hoofcontacting portion of the opening.

3. A horseshoe as defined in claim 1 in which the ratio of the majoraxis of the body is to the minor axis thereof as about 5.5 inches is toabout 5 inches, the ratio of the length of the major axis of the openingis to the length of the minor axis thereof as about 3 inches is to about2.5 inches, and the ratio of the major axis of the body is to the majoraxis of the opening as about 5 inches is to about 3 inches.

4. A horseshoe as defined in claim 1 in which the strap has projectinglugs on its outer surface.

5. A horseshoe as defined in claim 1 in which the body is thicker at itsheel portion than at its toe portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1905 Gay 168.27 2/1929 Tweed168-12 OTHER REFERENCES ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Primary Examiner

